Batman doesn't grant interviews, but if he did, it might be
something like talking with West Chester's Tori Dugan.

Dugan has saved at least one life, but she shrugs it off as no
big deal. What resonates with Dugan aren't the successes, but the
rare failures. Like Batman regretting the time Joker got away,
Dugan laments the infrequent occasions when West Chester, which has
gone 32-9 and in her two years on campus, has lost.

During track workouts, Dugan visualizes chasing a player from
LIU Post, the team formerly known as C.W. Post that ended West
Chester's season in the Division II championship game.

Losing is torturous. By comparison, life-saving was easy.

In November 2011, Dugan was identified as a bone marrow match
for a 50-year-old man with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She had joined a
national registry of donors thanks to a campus-wide initiative
spearheaded by West Chester's football team.

For many, the mention of marrow brings to mind painful images of
needles extracting from bone. Dugan insists it isn't so bad. For
one, they hardly ever go into the donor's bones anymore. The marrow
is obtained from the blood.

"It actually wasn't painful at all," she said. "It was a
six-hour procedure. I had a needle in both arms. They take the
blood out, spin it down and take what they need. It's a slow
process. It's not that grueling."

Just two days of shots (to build her blood cell count), then six
hours in the hospital as they drained and replaced her blood,
followed by weeks of rest needed due to a low blood cell count and
an enlarged spleen.

Dugan grew up minutes from campus, but just like Batman, she had
to leave home and study in a foreign land — in her case, a
year at Louisville — before returning as the hero West
Chester deserved. In 2012, she was the PSAC Player of the Year and
finished seventh in Division II in points (94), 10th in assists
(40) and fifth in draw controls (120).

Dugan will need to get used to the hero routine. She will have
plenty more life-saving opportunities, considering she's studying
to become a nurse.

Just don't expect her to brag about it.

Said Dugan: "We'll keep that on the DL."

This article appears in the February issue of Lacrosse
Magazine,the flagship publication of US Lacrosse.
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